In the story of the father and two sons in Luke 15:11-32, both sons initially had an Old Covenant mindset toward their father. This mindset thinks, “I have to”, “If I don’t, I will be punished”, etc. The resulting resentment toward the Law leads to sin “coming alive” (Romans 7:8-13).

In the next stage of the younger son we see the sinful mindset, which thinks, “I don’t have to”, “Nobody tells me what to do”, etc. This results in unlicensed sin far away from the father’s house (Romans 8:2).

After the younger son returned, “Monday morning” at the father’s house is the same as before he left — there was still work to be done. The younger son could have had a “No” Covenant” mindset which, just like the sinful mindset, thinks, “I don’t have to”, “Nobody tells me what to do”, etc. Since the son had the ring on his finger and the father’s robes on him, he could have treated it as a license to not obey the father’s commandments (Jude 1:4; Psalm 50:16-17).

In the New Covenant, the standard is raised higher, but we keep all of God’s commandments out of love for Him (I John 2:3-4,7-8; 5:3). When we allow God to write His law on our hearts, our response is: “I love my Father”, “I will deny myself to obey Him”, etc. True “jubilee” in Christ is found in saying, “I love my master.. I will not go out a free man” and allowing God to “pierce our ears” as His possession (Exodus 21:2-6).